The Don's Funeral

The Sopranos 1.04 Review - 'Meadowlands'

Guest Starring:

George Loros as Raymond Curto

Joe Badalucco as Jimmy Altieri

Michael Rispoli as Jackie Aprile
Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile

Michele de Cesare as Hunter Scangarelo

Tony Darrow as Larry Boy Barese

Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva

Anthony DeSando as Brendan Filone

Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Al Sapienza as Mikey Palmice

Oksana Lada as Irina Peltsin

and

John Heard as Vin Makazian

[Reviewer's Notes: This episode originally aired on January 31st 1999.]


This week's episode of The Sopranos saw some significant plot developments take place. All in all, three major story arcs were focused on during the episode - the first revolving around Tony's relationship with his Uncle Junior and the death of the New Jersey mafia don, Jackie Aprile; the second surrounding Christopher and the aftermath of his mock execution; and lastly, the brief subplot surrounding Carmela's fight with Tony and A.J.'s schoolyard fight.


Tony's plot developments this week were quite intriguing to watch, as we see him involved in a number of varying scenarios, ranging from his discussions with Dr. Melfi, through to his fight with Carmela. What i liked in particular about this episode was A.J.'s sudden prominence as an integral character of the show - after three episodes of seeing him in the background, it was interesting to see him have his own little subplot. Tony's major plot development for the week, however, belongs to the death of his good friend and New Jersey don, Jackie Aprile. The scene with all the capos (excluding Junior) sitting together and toasting Jackie was quite touching, as was the burial scene where A.J. continues to speculate whether his father is involved in the mafia.


The scene also where Tony makes a truce with Uncle Junior, and informs him that he wants Junior to be the new don is also quite touching - although Tony has ulterior motives to the decision, it was nice to see the two of them hugging and embracing each other happily. How long will this temporary peace last? No idea.


Oh, and before i forget, i should also mention the brief subplot surrounding Tony's hired cop, Vin. Played by John Heard, Vin's developments focused solely on the viewer getting a deeper look into Jennifer Melfi's character, specifically into her private life. Vin's character is quite interesting, and i look forward to seeing where his storyline goes.


Christopher's storyline this week focused primarily on the brutal aftermath of the previous episode, in which he was mock executed by some of Uncle Junior's men. Initially, Christopher believes that Meadow told on him to Tony and he stays away from the Soprano capo for a majority of the episode, until he discovers that Junior whacked Brendan and warned Christopher as revenge for dishonouring him and stealing his trucks. It was interesting to see the dynamic between Christopher and his girlfriend, Adriana, as she discovered Brendan's corpse in the bathtub and i look forward to seeing where Christopher's story will lead.


Lastly, we come to Carmela's fight with Tony. To be honest, it was a brief and vicious argument that ended way too quickly for my taste. Tony merely suggests quitting therapy before Carmela explodes with anger, accusing him of giving up. That was basically the summary of it. I hope next week's episode expands more on this subplot, as i felt it was not properly addressed in this episode.


Before i forget, i should also briefly mention A.J.'s subplot. In a nutshell, A.J. and a friend of his get into two fights at school - the first resulting in A.J.'s shirt getting ripped and Carmela telling him to get his friend to pay for a new shirt, and the second fight resulting in a truce between the two boys (it is strongly implied that Tony had something to do this - my theory is because of the scene where Tony sees the boy's dad at the shop and has an axe in his hand).


Overall, my marks for the episode are:

• Potency of the season's theme(s) identified in the episode:  ********

• Editing & Scenes of Relevance:  ********

• Main characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********

• Secondary characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  *******

• Music & Visual Effects:  ********

• Originality and effectiveness of the episode's narrative:  ********

• Integration and effectiveness of multiple story arcs and character relationships:  *******

Overall Marks:  54 / 70

Grade Percentage: 77% 

All in all, this week's episode of The Sopranos was very good, and closed its doors on a major subplot of the season - with Jackie Aprile dead, the new don of the New Jersey mafia was decided. How long will Junior be the don for? Only time will tell.

We're In The Motel Business

The Sopranos 1.03 Review - 'Denial, Anger, Acceptance'

Guest Starring:

John Ventimiglia as Arty Bucco

Katherine Narducci as Charmaine Bucco

Al Sapienza as Mikey Palmice

Anthony DeSando as Brendan Filone

Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva
Michael Rispoli as Jackie Aprile

Sharon Angela as Rosalie Aprile

Michele de Cesare as Hunter Scangarelo

Jerry Adler as Hesh Rabkin

Oksana Lada as Irina Peltsin

[Reviewer's Notes: This episode originally aired on January 24th 1999].

This week's episode of The Sopranos started off on a high - namely with Christopher and Brendan returning the truck they had stolen in the previous episode and delivering it to Uncle Junior's clothing store.

But i'll get back to their story arc in just a moment.

This week, three significant story arcs were expanded on.

The first one i would like to address is Tony's major plot development this episode, involving a Jewish run hotel business. After being introduced to the hotel owner, Tony dispatches some of his men to capture the owner's son in law and attempt to 'convince' him to give up on his goal of obtaining 50% of the hotel. However, the men are surprised when the Jewish son in law turns out to be much more resiliant then they first realised. After calling Tony to come down, they finally manage to do the job after threatening to cut the man's genitals off. However, the Jewish owner attempts to refuse to give Tony his 25% and as a result, Tony beats the man around a little until he gives in.

Tony then visits his old friend, and Mafia Don, Jackie Aprile, to report the news, but he discovers that Jackie no longer cares about the mafia work - instead he seems to care about nothing at all, due to his cancer making him depressed. Tony brings his friend's depression up with his therapist and she tells him to try and overcome his own feelings of depression and sadness, which causes Tony to get angry and storm off. However, i think he'll be back.

The second important story arc for the episode involves Christopher and Tony's daughter, Meadow. After Meadow initially asks Christopher for some meth to study for her S.A.T.'s, Christopher finally gives in to Meadow's demands after fearing she would visit the rough neighbourhoods looking to score some. Focusing more on Christopher's storyline, we also see that Uncle Junior has had enough of Christopher and Brendan's messing around and dispatches some of his men to take them out. After Christopher gets taken, he is taken to the docks where he believes that Tony sent his men to kill him for giving Meadow meth, but he discovers that Junior had sent the men to warn him that if he tried anything again he would get killed. Brendan, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. After visiting Brendan's house, Junior sends his man in and kills Brendan in the bathtub.

Lastly, the brief plot developments in Carmela's life. Aside from Carmela organising a dinner party fundraiser, not much else took place in her story line, apart from a brief revelation from Arty Bucco's wife who revealed that she and Tony had slept together once before they were married. This evidently angers Carmela who seems to be fuming at Tony as the episode closes. Will this lead to a more complicated and expanded subplot in the next episode? Only time will tell.

Overall, here are my marks for the episode:

• Potency of the season's theme(s) identified in the episode:  *******

• Editing & Scenes of Relevance:  *******

• Main characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********

• Secondary characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********

• Music & Visual Effects:  *********

• Originality and effectiveness of the episode's narrative:  *******

• Integration and effectiveness of multiple story arcs and character relationships:  *******

Overall Marks: 53 / 70

Grade Percentage: 76%

All in all, this week's episode was very entertaining and i look forward to next week's developments.

Respect Your Mother

The Sopranos 1.02 Review - '46 Long'

Guest Starring:

Frank Santorelli as Georgie

Al Sapienza as Mikey Palmice

Anthony DeSando as Brendan Filone

Drea de Matteo as Adriana La Cerva

[Reviewer's Notes: This episode of The Sopranos originally aired on January 17th 1999.]


Following on from the premiere episode, '46 Long' continues to explore the life of Tony Soprano, his family and his mafia. Of particular mention this week is four central story arcs that took place.

First off the bat was Tony's situation with his nephew Christopher and his drugie friend Brendan who had hijacked a truck carrying DVD players that was being protected by Uncle Junior. After a heated sitdown with Junior, Tony demanded that Christopher and Brendan return the truck and pay a 15k tribute to Uncle Junior in order to apologise. However Brendan, in a drug induced state, hit another truck of Uncle Junior's, this time carrying expensive Italian suits and accidentally kill the driver. After getting yelled at by Tony, Christopher and Brendan skulk away and are forced to return the truck with all the merchandise to Uncle Junior. I have a feeling they will be severly punished in the next episode.

The next subplot involved Carmela and her strained relationship with her daughter Meadow. After catching Meadow sneaking out, Carmela grounds her and tells her she can't go on a trip to Aspen with her friend. The majority of their scenes together involved some interesting conversations and focused on Meadow's desire to do what she wants, combined with Carmela's dislike of Meadow's friend and trying to protect her daughter.
Although unoriginal, this subplot does indicate that not all things are rosy at home, and i look forward to seeing where the writers take this story arc.

Next on the list - Livia's story arc. After her frypan catches on fire, Livia is repeatedly told by both Tony and Carmela that she should move into a 'retirement community' so she can enjoy life without others having to worry about her. She initially refuses, but after accidentally running over her friend, she finally decides to move in to the retirement village, albeit grudgingly. It was quite humourous watching Livia repeatedly refuse to move out of her home and her constant referral to Tony's father as a saint - Tony seems to have a huge respect for his mother, and is torn between doing something that's right for her, at the cost of ignoring her wishes and respecting her wishes, at the cost of worrying about her. She is an interesting character and i'm interested to see what her future story arcs may involve.

Lastly, we come to my favourite story arc of the week - Tony's mission to find Anthony Jr.'s Science teachers car. Dispatching Paulie and Big Pussy to find it, the duo spend most of the episode hitting up coffee shops demanding to locate an employee who they suspect of stealing it. After locating the men involved, they manage to return the car to the parking lot, where the teacher is overjoyed at finding his car back. My favourite scenes of the episode revolved around this plot, such as Tony's comment to his son Anthony Jr.:

"What grades are you getting in Science?" 

"D+" 

"Ok, i'll see what i can do."

Anywho, these are my final marks for the second episode:

• Potency of the season's theme(s) identified in the episode:  ********

• Editing & Scenes of Relevance:  ********

• Main characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  ********

• Secondary characters connection with audience/actors effectiveness in role:  *******

• Music & Visual Effects:  *******

• Originality and effectiveness of the episode's narrative:  *******

• Integration and effectiveness of multiple story arcs and character relationships:  ******

Overall Marks: 51 / 70

Grade Percentage: 73%

All in all, this week's episode of The Sopranos was interesting, informative and expanded well on many of the character's story arcs and personalities. I look forward to seeing next week's episode.